Everything you need to create stunning cake decorations Cake decorating is an art with specific skills that must be studied and practiced before they can be mastered. Professional Cake Decorating is the first guidebook, reference, and at-your-fingertips resource to the special methods and techniques unique to cake decorating. Professional Cake Decorating is:* a comprehensive set of lessons designed to teach the skills needed in cake decorating, including basic, intermediate, and advanced piping skills; hand modeling; and gumpaste flowers* a powerful tool for making dramatic improvements in the overall look and design of cakes* a valuable training handbook and resource for bakers and decorators* a comprehensive reference of successful professional skill sets Using more than 200 step-by-step and finished cake color photographs, as well as over 125 illustrations, this highly visual book covers a wealth of techniques for cake borders, piped flowers, cake writing and piping, royal icing designs, marzipan fruits and figurines, rolled icing, floral patterns, petit fours, gumpaste floral art and design, and much more. Thorough coverage also includes such foundation skills as making shells, rosettes, reverse shells, zigzags, fleur-de-lis, rope, garlands, scrolls, rosebuds, and other confectionary designs. Complete with more than three dozen tried-and-tested recipes, Professional Cake Decorating is the only book that places the rewards of thirty years of training, traveling, teaching, and private practice in your hands! It is a must-have for today's bakers, cake decorators, specialty shop owners, and independent cake designers.